Famed Chateau Montelena winery is being sold to Frenchman for reputed $110M

Chateau Montelena, one of the Napa wineries that helped put California wine on the world's map 32 years ago, is being sold, pending regulatory approval, according to wine industry sources. But a statement by the principals issued Tuesday called it a "proposed acquisition" that is under discussion.

Despite the mushy language, there's little doubt that French hotel and winery owner Michel Reybier is buying the famed Calistoga winery from Los Angeles attorney Jim Barrett, according to the joint July 22 statement and other news reports.

Jim Barrett's 1973 chardonnay was one of two U.S. wines that startled the French wine world by winning the 1976 Judgement of Paris wine tasting. The other surprise winner was Napa's Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.

"The Reybier and Barrett families share a relentless pursuit of quality," Reybier said in the July 22 statement. "More than anything else, great wine is about place. These two estates are 7,000 miles apart, but share many common qualities and experiences. This is a merging of that experience and both estates will continue to improve over time."

Reybier, who owns Bordeaux's second-growth Chateau Cos d'Estournel, is buying the iconic winery for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be in the neighborhood of $110 million. Jean-Guillaume Prats, Chateau Cos d'Estournel's general manager, would neither confirm nor deny the amount of the purchase price to wine industry news site Decanter.com, except to say it is "the kind of investment that would be similar to buying a top Bordeaux estate."

A spokeswoman for Chateau Montelena said the joint statement would speak for itself.

Final regulatory approval from U.S. authorities is expected by October, Decanter.com said, adding that an executive committee, made up of Bo Barrett -- Jim Barrett's son and Montelena's winemaker -- Montelena managing director Greg Ralston, and Cos d'Estournel winemaker Dominique Arangoits, with Prats as president, will run the winery. Chateau Montelena produces about 36,000 cases of wine annually and includes 120 acres of vineyards. Its top varietals include cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay.

Jim Barrett revitalized Montelena in the early 1970s, but the winery dates back to 1882, when businessman Alfred Tubbs built a chateau there. "This is a perfect fit -- a dream marriage," Jim Barrett said in the statement. "We could not have asked for a finer team to carry on this legacy."